Getting licensed by the CBN
If your business touches money in Nigeria — payments, fintech, lending, currency exchange, deposit-taking — it almost certainly needs a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licence. CBN licensing is rigorous, staged and unforgiving of weak applications: it runs from an Approval-in-Principle (AIP) to a final licence, with strict company structuring, capital, fit-and-proper and documentation requirements at every step. This guide maps the journey and the specific licence routes.
Honest note: RenewPapers is not the CBN and does not grant licences or guarantee approval. We are a licensing consultant: we structure the company, build the application to CBN’s exact standard, manage the AIP-to-final process, and keep you compliant — so your application is not rejected or stalled on a fixable gap.
The AIP-to-final journey
- Structure & incorporate — the right CAC structure, objects, shareholding and directors (fit-and-proper matters).
- Approval-in-Principle (AIP) — the first CBN approval, on a complete application (promoters, business plan, capital evidence, documentation).
- Post-AIP build-out — meeting the conditions: infrastructure, systems, people, and often depositing the required capital.
- Final licence — granted after CBN is satisfied the conditions are met.
- Compliance & renewal — ongoing reporting, AML/SCUML and periodic requirements.
Which licence do you need?
Point me to the right licence
Capital requirements are specific and substantial — and they change. Each licence category has its own minimum capital and conditions, and the CBN has revised several recently. Rather than quote a figure that dates, we confirm the current requirement for your exact category before you plan around it.
The company structure is decided before you apply, not after. Shareholding, directors, objects and capital all have to be right at incorporation. Fixing a wrongly structured company mid-application is the classic expensive delay — we get it right up front.
Pursuing a CBN licence?
Tell us your business model. We will confirm the right licence, structure the company correctly, and run the AIP-to-final application so it is not rejected on a fixable gap.
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